Apple might not Care

Problem: About a year ago I wrote a post entitled AppleDoesCare, which I wrote after a long battle with the Apple support structure. I was happy with the final solution but it was a terribly long ordeal. I had been royally pissed, but in the end, I relented and decided that at least some people at Apple do care about satisfying customers.

A recent incident has me re-thinking that post. This new incident had me investigating the possible repair of a MacBook Pro which was accidentally dropped by one of our users. I dutifully jumped through the hoops and got in contact with Apple Online Support. Very quickly, they set me up with an appointment at the local Apple store with a "Genius" to work on my problem. (Sounds good, eh? I'm glad they're all geniuses. It gives me an extra sense of hope that they're going to know.......well, pretty much everything). As it turned out, the Genius didn't dazzle me with omniscience. I think he was actually just quoting from a script, automaton-like. I'll paraphrase: "Sorry sir, but the damage to your machine was accidental. That's not covered by the AppleCare Agreement. To fix that broken display will cost you $758.00. I'd better take it in the back to check for other problems". (wait.....wait.....wait.....) Ten minutes later: "Sorry, but there are other problems. I suggest you send the machine to our factory for the flat-rate fix of all the problems. That will cost you $1240.00". .......... All of this with a completely straight face. He was a nice enough guy, but then they all seem nice around the Apple store. Anyhow, $1240.00 is about the price of a new machine. Thanks, but no thanks, Apple.

The Whopping repair fee is only part of the problem. I wrongly assumed that having an extended warranty might give us some kind of a price break. Not a chance. The Genius told me that AppleCare doesn't cover accidental damage at all. Also, the online support technician who sent me to the Apple store knew the damage was accidental and didn't bother to tell me that it was going to cost us to fix it. The trip to the Apple store was a complete waste of my time.

I don't know how they compete. Most of our machines are Dells. And, when we order a Dell laptop, we generally also order the Complete Care option, which covers accidental damage. Dell's quality is just as good as Apple's, maybe even better for some things. When something goes wrong with a Dell, the Technician will come right to the site to work on it, if you want him/her to.

I'm not sure why we ever buy Apple products other than the fact that some of our people get caught up in the Apple hype. You've got to hand it to the marketing guys. Every TV show or movie where you happen to see a computer in the scene usually shows a Mac. If you ever go to an Apple store you'll see hoards of people standing elbow-to-elbow waiting for iPhones, iPods, iThis and iThat. iThink that most of their products are so immensely popular that their customers are completely blinded to what's happening behind the scenes. So, Apple obviously has something going for it. However, not for me.......

Solution: Dell

Techies Never RTFM

It's true. Techies never read. Even people who just think they're Techies never read. Let's face it, reading just isn't macho; at least not macho enough for Techies. Some of us try to write. But, we know in our hearts we're just writing to hear ourselves talk. (I used to have 2 readers, but now it's just me and my diary, and I still write sometimes). But READ? Never!!!

Problem: The Lovely Mrs. K (who I'll refer to as: LMK) and I bought a new refrigerator 6 months ago. It's a beautiful thing, stainless steel French doors, lots of space, very quiet. Even makes ice. Well, now it does. For the first 6 months it didn't. It's not because I hooked up the water wrong. Water was actually making it's way to the ice maker and filling up the tray. The problem was that the tray just wouldn't dump. Now (Diary), I know you'd like to hear the whole story, but it's just too long and ugly and I think even you would be bored, let alone the Techies who really should be reading this. So, I'll skip the first 5 months and 29 days, the many phone calls between the LMK and several refrigerator technicians and other service people and countless hours of wondering why this thing wouldn't work. I'll jump to the day the light came on, so to speak, when the final technician showed up with the 3rd ice maker, which also didn't initially dump the ice. The conversation went something like this:
LMK: "It's still not working."
Tech: "Yeah, I see."
LMK (the pseudo-technician, holding up a part): "Were you supposed to put this in?"
Tech: "Oh, yeah. That's the arm that controls the rotation of the tray. Hand it here. Now, hand me that short phillips head."
LMK: "What am I, your gofor?"
Tech: "Please, ma'am."
....15 minutes later....
Tech: "There, now it should work."
LMK: "Yeah but it doesn't."
Tech: "I see."
.... tic, tic, tic ....
LMK: "It should have worked 6 months ago."
Tech: (looking at the LMK, faint grinding sound coming from jaw area)
LMK: "What do you think could be wrong?"
Tech: "I don't know, yet."
LMK: "Did Lowes send you here?"
Tech: "No, I work for the manufacturer. They sent me."
LMK: ("comforting")
Tech: ("what to do?......what to do?.......hmmmmmmm")
LMK: (looking at the control panel inside the door) "What's that little blue light?"
Tech: (looking, .....furrowed) "Hmmm, I don't know."
LMK: "Hey, it's not just a light, it acually says something. Let me get my glasses."
....we wait....
LMK: (squinting through glasses) "It says, 'No Ice'. What does that mean? ...... We don't want any ice?"
Tech: "I don't know!"
LMK: (pushing button #1 on the control panel *) "I wonder what this does?"
(whirring sound as the ice tray turns over, .... rattle, rattle ,etc.... as the ice dumps out of the tray)
Tech: (scratching his head; still furrowed) "Well, I'll be darned!"

Solution: RTFM

* Samsung - Refrigerator User Manual, Code No. DA68-01632A REV(0.3), pg. 20 - Operating the SAMSUNG French Door Refrigerator - USING THE CONTROL PANEL

Connect Wireless NIC Before Logon

Problem: A user with no cached credentials couldn't get to the domain to be authenticated for logon while using only a wireless NIC.

Solution: Again, several of our colleagues on the internet also had this problem and suggested a solution. It turns out that some wireless NICs (for some odd reason) don't activate until the user logs on. Of course this doesn't do you much good if you need to contact the domain for authentication before you're allowed to logon. Anyhow, if you set Windows to control the NIC, it will connect before anyone logs on. So:

1. Start the Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) service if not already started.
   
2. Go to your Wireless Network Connection Properties and choose the Wireless Networks tab.


3. Check the box labeled "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings".

It works for me......